Shoe cleaning and polishing machine



Nov. 4, 1969 A. HETTICH ETAL 3,475,730

SHOE CLEANING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 (ll/mini! J: $616.2

f/re/r Arrow/5y Nov. 4, 1969 A. HETTICH ETAL 3,475,780

SHOE CLEANING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 mam/r095 A/fred 6277/0 Fm: 567191206 Heinz M412 X urf PAUIE Nov. 4, 1969 A, HETTICH EfAL 3,475,780

SHOE CLEANING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet E fire/7' ATTOP/VF/ NOV. 4, 1969 ET ETAL 3,475,780,

SHOE CLEANING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet Wyn/mp5 Alfred A Hr/c' 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 NOW 1 A. HETTICH ETAL SHOE CLEANING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Jan; 25, 1968 Nov. 4, 1969 A. HETTICH ETAL 3,475,780

SHOE CLEANING AND POLISHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet7 FIG. 9

United States Patent Int. Cl. Ain 23/02 US. Cl. 15-36 31 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A floor-mounted motor-driven shoe cleaning and polishing machine comprises a sleeve-like brush holder which is rotatable about a horizontal axis and carries at its ends two detachable brush assemblies each of which includes one or more annular brushes having bristles extending radially inwardly toward as well as in parallelism with the axis of and away from the center of the brush holder. The latter is turnable with the motor back and forth about a vertical axis through an angle of 180 degrees and is surrounded by a system of shields and skirts which intercept flying impurities. A dirt collecting tray is releasably mounted on a base plate beneath each brush assembly. The motor can be mounted on a bracket above the brush holder or the latter may constitute a hollow cylindrical rotor of the motor. The brushes comprise cores of twisted wire and bristles which extend in all radial directions or at least radially inwardly and axially outwardly. Each brush may be assembled of two or more arcuate segments or sections and its core or cores are detachably secured to a ring-shaped carrier which is releasably coupled to the brush holder.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to shoe cleaning and/or polishing machines. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in stationary power operated machines for cleaning and/ or polishing of shoes.

Power operated shoe cleaning and polishing machines are becoming increasingly popular in countries where the labor is scarce or expensive. It is already known to provide a portable shoe cleaning machine (this term will be employed hereinafter to embrace shoe cleaning and/ or polishing and/or dusting machines) with a built-in electric motor and with cylindrical or conical brushes wherein the bristles extend substantially radially outwardly, or with disk-shaped brushes wherein the bristles extend from one floor-mounted or ground-supported motor-driven shoe end face of the disk. It is also known to employ stationary cleaning machines utilizing exposed or partially encapsulated brushes of conical, cylindrical or discoid shape. A drawback of portable machines is that their manipulation is tiresome, particularly when the user wishes to remove caked mud or like foreign matter whose removal necessitates the application of considerable pressure. Furthermore, the bristles propel particles of dust, mud and/or cream radially outwardly to contaminate the hands and the garments of users. Still further, the manner in which the brushes are attached to the motor is not entirely satisfactory because it requires too much time and the use of special tools in order to replace a brush, for example, to apply cream to a shoe subsequent to cleaning and/or to clean a brown shoe after cleaning of a black shoe or vice versa. Similar drawbacks are inherent in conventional floor-mounted shoe cleaning machines, particularly in those which utilize fully exposed brushes. Certain recent types of stationary shoe cleaning machines are provided with hollow cylindrical brushes wherein the bristles ex- Patented Nov. 4, 1969 tend radially inwardly and are surrounded by a shield serving to intercept particles of dirt or cream. The motor and transmission for the rotary brush are installed in the shield so that they are likely to be contaminated by flying impurities. Removal of dirt from the interior of the shield is difficult and the brush cannot be used for removal of dirt from or for polishing of hardto-reach corners or edges of shoes, particularly in the region between the sole and the upper.

Summary of the invention It is an object of our invention to provide a novel and improved shoe cleaning machine which can be used for cleaning, dusting and/or polishing of all types of shoes and wherein the brush or brushes are mounted and constructed in such a way that they can be used for cleaning of all portions of shoes regardless of whether a shoe is cleaned while being held by hand or while being on the foot of the operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel housing or frame structure for a ground-supported shoe cleaning machine and to provide novel brushes which can be utilized in such machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine wherein the brushes can be attached, removed or exchanged with little loss in time, by hand, or by utilizing readily available rudimentary tools.

An additional object of our invention is to provide a shoe cleaning machine which prevents dust, dirt, particles of cream or other foreign matter from "contaminating the area around the machine and wherein all such foreign matter is automatically collected without interfering with thorough cleaning of all portions of a ladies or mens articles of footwear.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a shoe cleaning machine which may be provided with one or more sets of brushes so that it can be employed for cleaning of differently colored shoes or for cleaning and subsequent polishing of shoes without necessitating removal or interchange of brushes.

Briefly outlined, our invention is embodied in a shoe cleaning machine which comprises a ground-supported (stationary) frame or housing, brush means including at least one annular brush mounted on or in the frame for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis and comprising bristles which extend inwardly toward as well as outwardly in substantial parallelism with the axis of the brush, and prime mover means including electric motor means carried by the frame and drivingly connected with the brush. The prime mover means preferably includes a rotary sleeve-like brush holder which is coaxial with and is detachably coupled to the brush or brushes.

The brush means may include a single annular brush at one or both axial ends of the holder or a plurality of closely adjacent annular brushes at one or both ends of the holder. The holder may be driven by commercially available electric motor means through the intermediary of a belt drive or another suitable transmission. Alternatively, the holder may constitute the rotor of electric motor means. The frame of the shoe cleaning machine may include a base plate or platform and a turntable which can swivel with reference to the base plate about a substantially vertical axis and carries the prime mover means and the brush or brushes. A handgrip member may be connected with the turntable to facilitate turning of the prime mover means and brush or brushes back and forth through substantially degrees.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved shoe cleaning machine itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a central longitudinal vertical sectional view of a shoe cleaning machine which embodies one form of our invention and wherein the motor is mounted at a level above the brushes;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the shoe cleaning machine as seen from the right-hand side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a central longitudinal vertical sectional view of a second shoe cleaning machine wherein the brush holder constitutes the rotor of the electric motor;

FIG. 4 is an axial sectional view of a further brush holder which can be used as a substitute for the brush holders of FIGS. 1 to 3 and can be coupled with brushes by means of bayonet connections;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of an annular brush which is assembled of three arcuate segments;

FIG. 6 is a section as seen in the direction of arrows from the line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary axial sectional view of a brush assembly which utilizes two brushes of the type shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 8 is a similar fragmentary substantially axial sectional view of a brush assembly which constitiutes a slight modification of the brush assembly shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary axial sectional view of a further brush assembly which comprises a single composite annular brush, the section being taken in the direction of arrows as seen from the line IX-IX of FIG. 10;

FIG. 10 is a smaller-scale fragmentary end elevational view of the brush assembly shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary view of a detail in the brush assembly of FIGS. 9 and 10; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary axial sectional view of a brush assembly which constitutes a modification of the brush assembly shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a shoe cleaning machine which comprises a frame including a stationary ground-supported base plate or platform 1 which serves as a support for a rotary foot or turntable 3 of the frame. An annulus of antifriction rolling elements 2 is disposed in a cage between the parts 1 and 3 to facilitate turning of turntable about a vertical axis. Retaining members 5 of sheet metal or the like are aflixed to the turntable 3 by screws 4 or like fasteners and overlie the adjoining portion of the platform 1 to prevent unintentional lifting of the turntable. A vertical pin or post 6 is anchored in the platform 1 and extends upwardly into a semicircular guide groove 7 machined into the underside of the turntable 3; the purpose of the pin 6 and groove 7 is to limit the extent of angular movement of the turntable 3 with reference to the platform 1 and to arrest the turntable in two end positions at 180 degrees from each other. A detent assembly including a ball 9 biased upwardly by a spring 10 which is received in a blind bore 8 in the top face of the platform 1 and two notches 11, 12 machined into the underside of the turntable 3 diametrically opposite each other serves to yieldably hold the turntable in either one of the two end positions, i.e., the ball 9 penetrates partially into one of the notches 11, 12 when the pin 6 abuts against the surface at the one or the other end of the guide groove 7.

The turntable 3 supports two axially spaced coaxial bearing rings 13, 14 which also form part of the frame and are affixed to the turntable by screws or like fasteners, not shown, to support a sleeve like brush holder 17 which latter is rotatable therein about a horizontal axis, i.e., at right angles to the axis of the turntable 3. The brush holder 17 is mounted in bearing rings 13, 14 on two annuli of antifriction rolling elements 15, 16 which bank a centrally located ring-shaped collar 18 of the brush holder between the adjoining axial ends of the rings 13, 14. The rolling elements 15, 16 are preferably balls which consist of synthetic plastic material to reduce noise when the holder 17 is driven by a commercially available electric motor 28 of the prime mover means. The collar 18 constitutes a pulley and is provided with a circumferential groove 19 for an endless V-belt 20 which is also trained around a second pulley 32 driven by the output shaft 31 of the motor 28. It is clear that the belt drive 18, 20, 32 of the prime mover means can be replaced by other types of transmissions.

The bearing rings 13, 14 support two outer shields or hoods 21, 22 which are detachably aflixed thereto by screws 23 or like fasteners and extend axially beyond the respective bearing rings, see particularly FIG. 1. The hoods 21 and 22 are coaxial with the brush holder 17 and are axially spaced from each other. A centrally located arcuate shield or hood 24 is mounted between the hoods 21, 22 and is provided with a cutout or window 25 for the V-belt 20. This central hood 24 surrounds the area which accommodates the plastic balls 15, 16 and the collar or pulley 18 of the brush holder 17. Furthermore, the central hood 24 supports a frame member here shown as a bracket 26 which carries the housing of the motor 28 and a substantially L-shaped handgrip member 33. The bracket 26 is bolted or otherwise affixed to the hood 24 and is rigidly connected to the housing of the motor 28 by screws 27. The rotor 29 of the motor 28 extends through an opening 30 of the bracket 26 and the output shaft 31 is a stub which is rigid with the rotor 29 and carries the aforementioned upper pulley 32 for the V-belt 20. The handgrip member 33 constitutes a means for facilitating turning or swiveling of the turntable 3 with hoods 21, 22, 24, bracket 26 and rings 13, 14 back and forth with reference to the plat form 1. Furthermore, the handgrip member 33 may serve as a convenient support or prop for one hand of the person using the shoe cleaning machine. A sheet metal cover 34 is atfixed to the bracket 26 and encloses the motor 28, output shaft 31, pulley 32 and the upper portion of the belt 20. If desired, at least a portion of the cover 34 may consist of nonmetallic material, e.g., a suitable plastic.

The interior of the brush holder 17 is provided with a liner 35 of felt or the like. Each axial end of the holder 17 is further provided with an external circumferential groove 36 and carries a radially outwardly extending motion transmitting pin or post 27. The lefthand end portion of the brush holder 17 carries a first assembly 38 of annular brushes, and a similar assembly 101 of annular brushes is mounted on the right-hand end portion of the holder 17, as viewed in FIG. 1.

The brush assembly 38 comprises a ring-shaped carrier 39 of cast light metal which includes a ring-shaped portion 40 and three extensions or arms 41 extending in parallelism with the axis of and away from the cylindrical portion 40. The extensions 41 are equidistant from each other and each thereof carries two parallel sheet metal plates 42 provided with two recesses or notches 44. Additional recesses or notches 46 are provided in the outer faces of the extensions 41. The notches 44 accommodate portions of two annular brushes 43 each of which comprises radially extending bristles held together by a core consisting of twisted or coiled wires in a manner known from the art of bottle cleaning brushes. The wires of the cores are inserted into the notches 44 and are held in such notches by elastic bands 45 extending into the notches 46 of the respective extensions 41. Such mode of mounting permits convenient and rapid detachment of brushes 43 without resorting to any tools.

The carrier 39 has three equidistant radial bores 47 whose outer ends are sealed by threaded plugs 48. The radially inner portions of bores 47 receive slidable coupling pins 49 which are biased toward the axis of the carrier 39 by springs 50. The tips of coupling pins 49 extend into the left-hand circumferential groove 36 of the brush holder 17. The entire brush assembly '38 can be readily detached from the brush holder 17 by moving it axially in a direction to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, so as to overcome the bias of springs 50 and to withdraw the tips of coupling pins 49 from the respective groove 36. The pins 49 snap into this groove when the brush assembly 38 is returned to the position shown in FIG. 1. An axially parallel motion receiving projection 51 on the carrier 39 extends into the path of the left-hand motion transmitting pin 37 on the brush holder 17 when the brush assembly 38 assumes the position shown in FIG. 1. Thus, when the motor 28 is started to drive the brush holder 17, the left-hand pin 37 engages the projection 51 and rotates the brush assembly 38.

The carrier 39 is further provided with three equidistant radial openings 52 which receive the stems of elastic plugs 53. The heads of these plugs are inwardly adjacent to the carrier 39 and bear against the external surface of the brush holder 17 to prevent Wobbling and to reduce noise.

The right-hand brush assembly 101 of FIG. 1 is similar to the brush assembly 38. Its carrier 102 is mounted on the brush holder 17 in the same way as the carrier 39. Thus, the cylindrical portion 103 of the carrier 102 comprises three axially parallel extensions or arms 104 each of which is provided with two radial bores 105 for hookshaped retaining or coupling bolts or screws 106 which are inserted from the inside and mesh with lock nuts 107. The bolts 106 hold two annular brushes 43, i.e., they engage the cores consisting of helically convoluted wires which hold the bristles of these brushes. Of course, the bolts 106 can be replaced by elastic bands 45 if the extensions 104 are provided with pairs of plates similar to plates 42 shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 1; The bolts 106 constitute a very simple coupling means for permitting rapid attachment or separation of the respective annular brushes 43.

The space below the two pairs of annular'brushes 43 accommodates two dirt collecting receptacles or trays 54 which are detachahly mounted on the platform 1. The outer sides of the brushes 43 are surrounded by the outer hoods 21, 22 which carry axially outwardly extending skirts 55 of plastic foil or the like. The skirts 55 are slipped onto the respective hoods 21, 22 in such a way that the radially inwardly and axially outwardly extending bristles of the two outer annular brushes 43 are available for dusting, cleaning or polishing of shoes. If desired, the material of the skirts 55 can be colored to indicate whether the adjoining brushes 43 are to be used for cleaning or polishing of black, brown, red or otherwise colored shoes. Thus, these skirts 55 can serve the dual purpose of intercepting particles of dirt or cream which are propelled radially outwardly and also of indicating to the user which set of brushes 43 is to be used for dusting, cleaning or polishing of his or her shoes.

Of course, and if the machine is placed against a wall or into a comer so that only one of the brush assemblies 38, 101 can be used at a time, it suflicies to provide the machine with a single detachable receptacle or tray 54 because the other receptacle would be out of reach. The skirts 55 can be slipped off the respective outer hoods 21, 22 for periodic cleaning or replacement of fresh skirts.

The operation is as follows:

An electric starting and stop switch (not shown) which can be mounted on the handgrip member 33 or on the platform 1 is actuated to start the motor 28 whereby the motor drives the brush holder 17 by way of pulleys 32, 18 and belt 20. If the switch is mounted on the platform 1, it can be actuated by the foot of the user. The brush holder 17 drives the brush assemblies 38, 39 through the intermediary of motion transmitting pins 37. The outwardly extending axially parallel bristles of the brushes 43 can be used for dusting, cleaning or polishing of corners and of other hard-to-reach portions of shoes, for example, between the heel and the arch or between the sole and the upper. By introducing the shoe into the interior of the brush assembly 38 or 101, the user can clean or polish the uppers, soles and/or heels of his or her shoes. As stated before, one of the brush assemblies 38, 101 can be used for cleaning and the other brush assembly can be used for dusting and/or polishing of shoes. If the shoes are reasonably clean prior to treatment in the machine, one of the brush assemblies 38, 101 can be used for dusting and/ or polish of black shoes and the other for dusting and/or polishing of brown or red shoes. If the platform 1 is mounted on the floor in such a way that one of the brush assemblies 38, 101 faces a wall or is located in a corner or is otherwise out of reach when the other brush assembly is readily accessible, the user simply turns the handgrip member 33 to move either one of the two brush assemblies to an optimum position for cleaning, dusting or polishing of a shoe. By turning the handgrip member 33, the user must overcome the relatively weak resistance of the spring 10 which biases the detent ball 9 into one of the notches 11, 12 in the underside of the turntable 3. If the shoe remains on the foot during cleaning, the user can utilize the handgrip member 33 as a convenient support or prop. Spare brush assemblies may be provided if the machine is to be used for cleaning and dusting or polishing of black, brown, red, blue and/or otherwise colored shoes. The aforedscribed means for detachably securing the brush assemblies 38, 101 on the holder 17 permit for rapid and convenient removal, exchange and attachment of brush assemblies by persons having little skill and by exertion of a minimal effort. Each of the brush assemblies 38, 101 can be attached in an infinite number of angular positions because the brush holder 17 need not be provided with more than two motion transmitting pins 37, i.e., the carrier 39 or 102 can be attached in each angular position with the exception of that in which its motion receiving projection 51 would strike against the respective pin 37.

Particles of dust, dirt and/ or cream which are propelled radially outwardly during cleaning are intercepted by the skirts 55, hoods 21, 22 and/or receptacles 54. Those particles which strike against the hoods 21, 22 and skirts 55 are free to drop into the respective receptacles 54. Spent brushes 43 can be readily detached from the respective carriers 39, 102 to be replaced by fresh brushes. Such replacement merely necessitates removal of elastic bands 45 from the notches 46 or disengagement of wires from coupling bolts 106. Slight deformation of wires or cores in the right-hand brushes 43 of FIG. 1 will enable the user to detach them from the hooked portions of bolts 106. The brushes 43 can be detached from the respective carriers 39, 102 while the carriers remain attached to the brush holder 17, or such separation of brushes can be carried out subsequent to detachment of carriers from the brush holder. A single pull on a carrier suffices to detach it from the respective end portion of the brush holder 17. Reattachment of a carrier to the holder 17 is equally simple, i.e., the user simply slips the cylindrical portion 40 or 103 onto the respective end portion of the brush holder so that the corresponding coupling pin 49 snaps into the adjacent circumferential groove 36 of the brush holder.

It is clear that each of the brush assemblies 38, 101 may comprise a single annular brush 43 or three or more annular brushes. The use of several brushes which are adjacent to each other and wherein the bristles intermesh or overlap is desirable to provide a relatively deep cylinder for cleaning of large portions of shoes in response to introduction into the interior of the brush assembly 38 or 101. There is no damage to leather if the user inserts the shoe beyond the inner brush 43 of the brush assembly 38 or 101 because the shoe then contacts the soft liner 35 which coats the internal surface of the brush holder 17.

It is further clear that the bearing rings 13, 14 can be fixedly mounted on a stationary part of the frame, e.g., on the paltform 1, if there is no need to swivel the brush holder 17 about a vertical axis.

FIG. 3 illustrates a modified shoe cleaning machine wherein the motor 28 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is replaced by a hollow cylindrical electric motor. The turntable 3 carries two bearing rings 270, 271 for a sleeve-like brush holder 217 which is rotatable in slide bearings provided on the bearing rings. The brush holder 217 constitutes a hollow rotor of the electric motor and carries a package of inner laminations 260. The centrally located shield or hood 224 constitutes the stator of the motor and additionally serves to connect the bearing rings 270, 271. The hood 224 carries a second package of laminations 261 and the stator winding 262. The outer hoods or shields 221, 222 are integral with the respective bearing rings 270, 271. The machine of FIG. 3 is more compact than the previously described machine. It may be provided with a handgrip member (not shown) which can be affixed to one of the hoods 221, 222, 224, preferably to the centrally located hood. The manner in which the two brush assemblies are detachably coupled to the brush holder or rotor 217 is the same as described in connection with FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modified brush holder 217a which can be used in the machine of FIGS. 1-2 or in the machine of FIG. 3 and which is provided with pairs of bayonet slots 217b adapted to receive bayonet pins (one shown at 2170) provided on the brush assemblies (not shown). The inclination of slots 217b is such that the bayonet pins 2170 automatically clamp the carriers of the respective brush assemblies against the adjoining end faces of the brush holder 217a when the latter is set in rotary motion.

The position of bayonet slots 217b and bayonet pins 2170 can be reversed, i.e., the pins can be provided on the brush holder 217a and the slots can be machined into the cylindrical portions 40, 103 of the carriers 39, 102.

FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate a modified brush assembly 204 which can be used as a substitute for the brush assemblies 38 and/or 101. Each of the two annular brushes shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is assembled of three arcuate segments 201 (see particularly FIG. 5). The core of each brush includes twisted wires 201a which hold together the bristles 201b and have end portions which extend beyond the respective groups of bristles and are bent first radially outwardly, as at 2010 in FIG. 6, and thereupon axially, as at 201d, so that their end faces abut against the end faces of cores in the segments of the adjoining annular brush. Coupling sleeves or muffs 205 are slipped onto the axially extending portions 201d. Thus, each muff 205 surrounds the end portions of cores in four segments 201, two of these segments belonging to one of the annular brushes and the remaining two segments belonging to the other annular brush. The ring-shaped carrier 202 of the brush assembly 204 has three axially parallel extensions or arms 206 which are detachably connected with the respective muffs 205 by screws 206a or like fasteners. The muffs 205 preferably resemble clamps which can be spread apart to facilitate insertion of the respective end oprtions 201d.

FIG. 8 illustrates a modified brush assembly 204' wherein the muffs 205 are provided with lugs 205a secured to the end faces of respective extensions 206' on the carrier 202' by bolts or screws 206a. The lugs 205a extend radially outwardly of the muffs 205. The numeral 203 denotes the ring-shaped portion of the carrier 202'. It will be seen that the composite brushes shown in FIGS. 5-8 are also provided with bristles which extend radially inwardly as well as axially outwardly of the respective carrier so as to facilitate dusting, cleaning and/or polishing of each portion of a shoe in a manner as described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 9 to 11 illustrate a portion of a further brush assembly 213. This brush assembly comprises a single composite annular brush which is assembled of nine sections or segments 210 each of which comprises a core of wires 210a extending along an arc of about degrees (see FIG. 9). The wires 210a are located in planes which extend radially of the brush assembly 213. The inner end portions 2100 of wires 210a extend beyond the respective bristles 21120 and these end portions 2100 are anchored in a ringshaped carrier 212. Since the wires 210a are twisted around each other, their inner end portions 2100 resemble externally threaded pins or studs which are screwed into axially parallel bores 220a of the carrier 212. The carrier 212 is provided with pins 212a extending tangentially of bores 220a and serving as nuts to permit threading of inner end portions 2100 into the respective bores 220. The radially outwardly extending outer end portions 2100' of wires 210a are received in notches 220 (see FIG. 11) provided in axially parallel arms or extensions 214 of the carrier 212. These outer end portions 2100' extend radially outwardly beyond the respective notches 220 and are connected with helical coupling springs 221 mounted on the carrier 212. Each section 210 can be readily separated from the carrier 212 upon detachment of the respective spring 221, and such separation as well as reattachment of a section 210 can be carried out without any tools.

Referring finally to FIG. 12, there is shown a brush assembly 211 which constitutes a modification of the brush assembly 213 shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. This brush assembly 211 also comprises a group of brush sections 215 similar to the sections 210. The radially outwardly extending outer end portions 2150' of the cores or wires 215a are bent in parallelism with the axis of the brush assembly 211 and extend into smooth bores 218a provided in the arms or extensions 218 of the carrier 216. The outer end portions 2150' are held in the positions shown for one thereof in FIG. 12 by a plastic retaining ring 219. The latter is held against axial movement by two, three or more axially parallel screws (not shown) which mesh with the carrier 216. Such screws can be driven into the adjoining extensions 218. The inner end portions 2150 of the wires 215a extend into axially parallel bores 216a in the carrier 216. The structure shown in FIG. 12 can be assembled or taken apart by resorting to a simple screwdriver or an analogous rudimentary tool.

The manner in which the carriers 202, 202, 212, 216 of FIGS. 5 to 12 may be mounted on or detached from a sleeve-like brush holder 17 or 217 is the same as described in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3. However, it is equally possible to provide these carriers with bayonet pins 2170 so that they can be attached to a brush holder 2170 of the type shown in FIG. 4. A important advantage of the brush assemblies 204, 204', 213, 211 is that they comprise composite brushes, i.e., that it is not necessary to discard an entire annular brush when a single portion or section of the brush requires replacement. As in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 3, the bristles of brushes shown in FIGS. 5 to 12 extend radially inwardly as well as axially outwardly.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features which fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of our contribution to the art and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the claims.

What is claimed as new and resired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A shoe cleaning machine, comprising a ground-supported frame; brush means including at least one annular brush mounted in said frame for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis and comprising bristles extending inwardly toward as well as outwardly in substantial parallelism with the axis of said brush; and prime mover means including motor means carried by said frame and drivingly connected with said brush.

2. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said prime mover means includes a rotary sleeve-like holder and wherein said brush is coupled to and is rotatable with said holder.

3. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 2, further comprising antifriction bearing means for said holder provided in said frame.

4. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said bearing means comprises spherical rolling elements.

5. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 4, wherein said rolling elements consist of synthetic plastic material.

6. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said brush means comprises a plurality of closely adjacent coaxial annular brushes.

7. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said brush comprises ring-shaped core means of wires twisted together and supporting said bristles.

8. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said 'brush forms part of a brush assembly which further comprises an annular carrier driven by said prime mover means and means for releasab-ly coupling said brush to said carrier.

9. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 8, wherein said coupling means comprises elastic bands.

10. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 8, wherein said carrier comprises a plurality of axially parallel extensions and said coupling means comprises hookshaped members mounted on said extensions and releasably engaging portions of said brush.

11. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim '8, wherein said brush comprises a plurality of arcuate segments.

12. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 11, wherein each of said segments comprises a core of wirelike material and wherein the end portions of cores in adjoining segments are coupled to each other by means of muffs.

13. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 12, wherein said coupling means comprises means for detachably securing said muffs to said carrier.

14. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 11, wherein each of said segments comprises a core of wire like material and wherein said coupling means comprises axially parallel extensions provided on said carrier and means for detachably securing the end portions of said cores to said extensions.

15. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in calim 8, wherein said carrier is provided with axially parallel bores and with axially parallel extensions located radially outwardly of said bores, said brush comprising a plurality of arcuate sections each including a core of wire like material, said cores having first end portions received in said bores and second end portions coupled to said extensions.

16. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 15, wherein said cores extend along arcs of about 90 degrees and are disposed in planes extending radially of said carrier, said second end portions of said cores extending radially outwardly from the axis of said brush.

17. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 15, wherein the first end portions of said cores are in mesh with said carrier and wherein said extensions have notches receiving the second .end portions of said cores, and further comprising springs detachably coupling said second end portions to said carrier.

18. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 15, wherein said bores are bounded by smooth surfaces and wherein each of said second end portions extends into an axially parallel bore of the respective extension, and further comprising retaining means for releasably holding said second end portions in the respective bores.

19. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 8, wherein said carrier comprises at least one substantially radially movable coupling member and means for biasing said coupling member radially inwardly, said prime mover means comprising a sleeve-like holder rotatable about said horizontal axis and having a circumferential groove receiving a portion of said coupling member.

20. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 8, wherein said prime mover means comprises a sleeve-like brush holder rotatable about said horizontal axis and having a radial motion transmitting projection, said carrier being detachably coupled to said holder and having a motion receiving projection extending into the path of said motion transmitting projection to drive said brush in response to rotation of said holder.

21. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said prime mover means comprises a brush holder rotatable about said horizontal axis and said brush forms part of a brush assembly including an annular carrier, and further comprising at least one bayonet connection between said carrier and said brush holder.

22. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in calim 1, wherein said prime mover means comprises a brush holder rotatable about said horizontal axis and having two end portions, said brush means comprising two brush assemblies each of which comprises at least one brush and an annular carrier detachably connected with one of said brushes, and further comprising means coupling each of said carriers with one end portion of said brush holder.

23. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 22, wherein each of said brush assemblies comprises a plurality of coaxial annular brushes.

24. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 22, wherein said fram comprises a base member and a turntable rotatable on said base member about a substantially vertical axis and rotatably supporting said holder.

25. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 24, further comprising handgrip means carried by said turntable to facilitate turning of said holder about said vertical axis.

26. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 25, wherein said handgrip means extends upwardly from said frame and comprises a bent-over portion.

27. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, further comprising receptacle means secured to said frame and located at a level below said brush means to collect impurities removed from shoes by the bristles of said brush means.

28. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 27, wherein said receptacle means is detachable from said frame.

29. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 27, wherein said prime mover means comprises a brush holder rotatable about said axis and having two end portions, said brush means comprising at least two annular brushes each detachably connected with one end portion of said rolder, said receptacle means comprising a pair of receptacles each mounted on said frame below one of said brushes.

30. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said motor means comprises a hollow cylindrical rotor drivingly connected with said brush and a stator mounted on said frame and surrounding said rotor.

31. A shoe cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said motor means is an electric motor having a rotary output member, said prime mover means further comprising a sleeve-like holder rotatable about said axis and drivingly connected with said brush, and a transmis- 11 12 sion for rotating said holder in response to rotation of FOREIGN PATENTS said outPut membfir- 493,220 10/1938 Great Britain.

References Cited EDWAR D L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 U.S. Cl. X.R.

3,155,995 10/1964 Harrmann 15-36 15 34 

